Writings

Debates over EU responsibility to rescue and save these migrants from drowning have become more contentious in recent years and at the center of the current debate are the humanitarian NGOs trying to fill the gap left by the EU’s increasingly draconian migration policies.

Afghanistan is witnessing a particularly violent month with multiple bombings, street protests and a violent crackdown by police.And in this mayhem, several countries are actively deporting Afghan refugees back to the country.

Today marks World Refugee Day. Once again, this past year was record breaking for refugees and the forcibly displaced, albeit all the wrong records.Refugee hosting and resettlement remains a controversial topic among the countries most able to contribute, while new crises threaten to continue to overwhelm the international refugee system.

This week France started the long-awaited shutdown of the notorious Jungle refugee camp outside the city of Calais. Billed as a humanitarian measure, the eviction of nearly 7,000 refugees and asylum seekers in the camp is becoming just as controversial as the camp itself as questions remain about what will happen to those who once called the Jungle home.

According to the International Organization for Migration, for at least the third year in a row the Mediterranean represents the most deadly migratory route in the world. With three main methods of crossing the Mediterranean, known deaths in the Mediterranean account for almost 75 percent of global migrant deaths.

Delegates of the Refugee Congress meet with members of the U.S. Congress as part of their national meeting. Sharing their stories, of how they came to the U.S. and their experiences once here, gives insight to the lawmakers responsible for setting refugee policy and programs designed to help new refugees integrate into their new lives in America.

Australia announced yesterday that it would be closing its controversial migrant detention center on Manus island in Papua New Guinea following a court order earlier this year. Refugee and human rights groups welcomed the announcement, although it remains unclear what lays ahead for the more than 800 asylum seekers currently housed at Manus and the many others in the same situation at other offshore detention facilities.

At a time when immigration has again become a hot-button political topic across the West, President Obama announced new measures last month to help people from Central America escape the daily violence that defines many of their lives.

The Brexit fallout contains multitudes, and there is now a good chance that thousands of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants will soon have a far easier time making it to British soil. This could bring the Syrian refugee crisis to the UK in a way it has largely escaped until now.

Three months after the EU-Turkey deal went into effect, very few of the estimated 2,000 refugees on the Greek island of Chios feel lucky. Instead, out of the international spotlight and with no information on what their future may hold, they feel forgotten and left behind.